Paul Jeffrey
Premium
RaceDepartment takes the Wave Impetus Monza Sim Pedals Pro on a long term review as we share our opinions on these high end sim racing pedals, designed and built in Maranello.
I like pedals. Let's get that one out of the way right from the very start. I really find there is something incredibly pleasurable from the feeling under foot of a good quality set of robust sim racing pedals. Arguably, it could be said that quality pedals are one of the most important aspects of a sim racers home setup in terms of authenticity and performance, so with that said, I find getting a good feeling from a pedal set is very high up on my priority list - which has led me to spending time with quite a few sets over the years.
When Wave Italy reached out to me a while ago and asked me to try out their Wave Impetus Sim Pedals Pro, I was very curious to see how they stacked up against the various sets I've either owned or tried over the years, especially after long term use, as I wanted to see if they have enough robustness to remain a viable option for bolting to the rig as a primary set when out on the virtual tracks.
Well, I've certainly given them plenty of work to do, and these are my findings from using the Wave Impetus Sim Pedals Pro in a wide range of sim racing games:
Of course I encourage you to watch our review video above where I share my thoughts and opinions, but I thought it might be helpful to pop down some useful information about the technical characteristics of these pedals as well - for those of you that are interested to see a little bit more about the detail behind the construction of the Impetus pedal set.
Adjustability
The throttle, brake and clutch can all be manually adjusted on the physical set itself, in terms of both positioning and strength of force required to suit your driving preferences. Relatively straight forward to do with minimal tools, I've enjoyed the range of forces on all three pedals, but special note has to go out to the throttle, which is for me one of the nicest feeling and weighted throttle pedals I've tried - something I'm regularly trying to find in other pedal sets.
Electronics
The set we used for this video contains an older Bodnar control unit, however current versions of these pedals come with an upgraded and improved Wave Italy designed unit. A 16bit sensor that offers increased resolution of up to 60,000 points of resolution and improved housing for better reliability, this is a nice upgrade to the version used within this video.
Looks
Exceptionally subjective depending on your own tastes and preference, for me I like the simplistic approach to design, which feels neat yet stylish thanks to some nice fine details around the mechanisms. I also appreciate the colour coding options, which allowed me to go with a red and black scheme that's in keeping with the colour styling within my sim racing room.
Size
Be warned - these are big and heavy pedals - especially when you include the base plate and heel rest, so expect to have to mount them to a robust and solid rig, which caught me out at the beginning and forced my hand into upgrading to an 80/20 Sim-Lab racing rig.
Price
The Wave Impetus Monza Sim Pedals Pro come in at a weighty 1,586 Euros - that includes the three pedals, base plate and heel rest - so these are very much at the top end of the price spectrum. For comparative purposes, the Heusinkveld Sim Pedals Sprint retail at 699 Euros, the HPP 3 Pedal Set is 1,225 Euros, the Ricmotech GTPro3 Extreme are 1488.87 Euros and the Simtag Hydraulic Pedal System is 2,539 Euros - so it's certainly at the meaty end of the price spectrum.
Reliability
I've given these pedals a significant workout of the last 18 months, having them pretty much bolted on to my rig for the duration of this period. Having used them in all my offline and online driving during that time, I'm pleased to report that I've not come up against any significant issues in terms of either reliability or noticeable wear and tear. Appreciate at this price you wouldn't expect issues, but it's always nice to know you can trust them to do what they are supposed to do.
Compatibility
This is where I've had some issues on occasion, although frankly I suspect this is more related to the simulations themselves rather than the actual pedals. With these being a little outside of the mainstream Logitech / Thrustmaster / Fanatec offerings, it will be rare to find a racing title that has a default controller profile for the pedals. Under 99.9% of circumstances this shouldn't present a problem, however in some games such as Dakar 18 and WRC 7, this does cause some difficulty getting the pedals recognised amongst the many other USB peripherals I've got plugged into my PC. I also have the same issue with my DSD Willwood pedals, so I'd be minded to think this is an issue shared by many uses of less standardised equipment.
Conclusion
The Wave Impetus Sim Pedals Pro are without question an exceptionally well made, solid, robust set of sim racing pedals. Design, construction, adjustability and usability are all of the highest calibre, and the pedals have proven to be perfectly reliable during my time using them on the rig.
I've enjoyed the feel of all three pedals, especially the throttle, and welcome the ability to perform physical adjustments to better bring in line the pedal feel with my requirements.
I like the look of the pedals, the mounting to my rig is robust if not a little awkward, and the heel rest can be tailored to allow comfort and performance over sustained use.
I do think the price is a little on the high side in a marketplace that is becoming increasingly competitive - asking sim racers to part with over 1500 euros for a set of pedals is a big ask, and although highly impressive to use, I think the difference in price between these and something the likes of HPP or Ricmotech could only be justified by end user preference at the end of the day.
Overall I've absolutely thoroughly enjoyed my time using these pedals and apart from the cost haven't found any significant drawbacks to the set during my time using them. I've completed thousands of laps in race, rally, trucking, off roading and driving simulations, without encountering any issues in terms of performance, noise, settings or failures.
Do I like them? Yes. Would I pick them myself? (If I had the budget) yes.
Overall: a great looking and a great performing set of high end sim racing pedals.
Find out more about Wave Italy: Click Here.
Purchase the Wave Impetus Monza Sim Pedals Pro: Click Here.
Do you have a question about a certain piece of sim racing hardware? Looking for advice and guidance from our massive community here at RaceDepartment? If the answer is yes to either of those questions, head over to the RaceDepartment Sim Racing Hardware sub forum and get a new thread started - join the conversation today!
- High end 3 pedal sim racing pedals from Wave Italy.
- RaceDepartment review video.
I like pedals. Let's get that one out of the way right from the very start. I really find there is something incredibly pleasurable from the feeling under foot of a good quality set of robust sim racing pedals. Arguably, it could be said that quality pedals are one of the most important aspects of a sim racers home setup in terms of authenticity and performance, so with that said, I find getting a good feeling from a pedal set is very high up on my priority list - which has led me to spending time with quite a few sets over the years.
When Wave Italy reached out to me a while ago and asked me to try out their Wave Impetus Sim Pedals Pro, I was very curious to see how they stacked up against the various sets I've either owned or tried over the years, especially after long term use, as I wanted to see if they have enough robustness to remain a viable option for bolting to the rig as a primary set when out on the virtual tracks.
Well, I've certainly given them plenty of work to do, and these are my findings from using the Wave Impetus Sim Pedals Pro in a wide range of sim racing games:
Of course I encourage you to watch our review video above where I share my thoughts and opinions, but I thought it might be helpful to pop down some useful information about the technical characteristics of these pedals as well - for those of you that are interested to see a little bit more about the detail behind the construction of the Impetus pedal set.
- Weight: 12.5KG
- Dimensions: 10cm x 10cm x 10cm
- Support: Plug and Play USB
- Materials: Cast Aluminium
- Force: Brake - 200kg (100kg foot pressure)
- Adjustments: All three pedals have degrees, force and positional adjustments
- Electronics: 16bit sensor capable of 60,000 points of pedal resolution.
Adjustability
The throttle, brake and clutch can all be manually adjusted on the physical set itself, in terms of both positioning and strength of force required to suit your driving preferences. Relatively straight forward to do with minimal tools, I've enjoyed the range of forces on all three pedals, but special note has to go out to the throttle, which is for me one of the nicest feeling and weighted throttle pedals I've tried - something I'm regularly trying to find in other pedal sets.
Electronics
The set we used for this video contains an older Bodnar control unit, however current versions of these pedals come with an upgraded and improved Wave Italy designed unit. A 16bit sensor that offers increased resolution of up to 60,000 points of resolution and improved housing for better reliability, this is a nice upgrade to the version used within this video.
Looks
Exceptionally subjective depending on your own tastes and preference, for me I like the simplistic approach to design, which feels neat yet stylish thanks to some nice fine details around the mechanisms. I also appreciate the colour coding options, which allowed me to go with a red and black scheme that's in keeping with the colour styling within my sim racing room.
Size
Be warned - these are big and heavy pedals - especially when you include the base plate and heel rest, so expect to have to mount them to a robust and solid rig, which caught me out at the beginning and forced my hand into upgrading to an 80/20 Sim-Lab racing rig.
Price
The Wave Impetus Monza Sim Pedals Pro come in at a weighty 1,586 Euros - that includes the three pedals, base plate and heel rest - so these are very much at the top end of the price spectrum. For comparative purposes, the Heusinkveld Sim Pedals Sprint retail at 699 Euros, the HPP 3 Pedal Set is 1,225 Euros, the Ricmotech GTPro3 Extreme are 1488.87 Euros and the Simtag Hydraulic Pedal System is 2,539 Euros - so it's certainly at the meaty end of the price spectrum.
Reliability
I've given these pedals a significant workout of the last 18 months, having them pretty much bolted on to my rig for the duration of this period. Having used them in all my offline and online driving during that time, I'm pleased to report that I've not come up against any significant issues in terms of either reliability or noticeable wear and tear. Appreciate at this price you wouldn't expect issues, but it's always nice to know you can trust them to do what they are supposed to do.
Compatibility
This is where I've had some issues on occasion, although frankly I suspect this is more related to the simulations themselves rather than the actual pedals. With these being a little outside of the mainstream Logitech / Thrustmaster / Fanatec offerings, it will be rare to find a racing title that has a default controller profile for the pedals. Under 99.9% of circumstances this shouldn't present a problem, however in some games such as Dakar 18 and WRC 7, this does cause some difficulty getting the pedals recognised amongst the many other USB peripherals I've got plugged into my PC. I also have the same issue with my DSD Willwood pedals, so I'd be minded to think this is an issue shared by many uses of less standardised equipment.
Conclusion
The Wave Impetus Sim Pedals Pro are without question an exceptionally well made, solid, robust set of sim racing pedals. Design, construction, adjustability and usability are all of the highest calibre, and the pedals have proven to be perfectly reliable during my time using them on the rig.
I've enjoyed the feel of all three pedals, especially the throttle, and welcome the ability to perform physical adjustments to better bring in line the pedal feel with my requirements.
I like the look of the pedals, the mounting to my rig is robust if not a little awkward, and the heel rest can be tailored to allow comfort and performance over sustained use.
I do think the price is a little on the high side in a marketplace that is becoming increasingly competitive - asking sim racers to part with over 1500 euros for a set of pedals is a big ask, and although highly impressive to use, I think the difference in price between these and something the likes of HPP or Ricmotech could only be justified by end user preference at the end of the day.
Overall I've absolutely thoroughly enjoyed my time using these pedals and apart from the cost haven't found any significant drawbacks to the set during my time using them. I've completed thousands of laps in race, rally, trucking, off roading and driving simulations, without encountering any issues in terms of performance, noise, settings or failures.
Do I like them? Yes. Would I pick them myself? (If I had the budget) yes.
Overall: a great looking and a great performing set of high end sim racing pedals.
Find out more about Wave Italy: Click Here.
Purchase the Wave Impetus Monza Sim Pedals Pro: Click Here.
Do you have a question about a certain piece of sim racing hardware? Looking for advice and guidance from our massive community here at RaceDepartment? If the answer is yes to either of those questions, head over to the RaceDepartment Sim Racing Hardware sub forum and get a new thread started - join the conversation today!
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